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Vance welcomes baby boy, first child born to a sitting vice president in more than 150 years

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Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance have welcomed their fourth child, making history as the first sitting vice president and spouse to have a baby while in office in more than 150 years.

The couple announced Sunday that their son, Alec Neel Vance, was born at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. They said both mother and baby are healthy, and that the family’s three older children — Ewan, 9, Vivek, 6, and Mirabel, 4 — are excited to meet their new brother.

The birth is a rare milestone in U.S. political history. According to the White House Historical Association, the last sitting vice president to welcome a child was Schuyler Colfax, whose son was born in 1870 while he served under President Ulysses S. Grant. Before that, Vice President John C. Calhoun welcomed a son in 1829.

Vance, 41, has made encouraging larger families a recurring theme of his political career. Since launching his successful 2021 Senate campaign in Ohio, the former Marine has frequently expressed concern about declining U.S. birth rates. As vice president, he reiterated that message during the 2025 March for Life rally and has spoken publicly about the importance of family.

The couple announced Usha Vance’s pregnancy in January. She has frequently accompanied the vice president and their children on official trips, often drawing public attention as one of the nation’s highest-profile political spouses.

In recent months, Usha Vance also received attention over a low-cost maternity dress she wore during an episode of her “Storytime with the Second Lady” podcast. After a New York Times fashion column linked the outfit to the pronatalist movement, she responded on social media by joking about her budget-conscious wardrobe and later shared the receipt showing the dress had been purchased on sale for $8.75. The vice president praised her thriftiness in a social media post.

The Vances have also said their decision to have a fourth child was influenced, in part, by conversations with the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed last year, although Usha Vance said the couple had already been discussing expanding their family before those conversations took place.

Source: PBS

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